Honiara, Solomon Islands, May 1, 2009
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, today signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of the Solomon Islands to help improve the regulatory environment for business. The aim of the program is to encourage the private sector and further the country’s economic development.
Over the next year, the regulatory simplification project is expected to streamline business start-ups by making it easier and faster to register a new business. It also aims to foster consultations between the public and private sectors to promote reform and to deal more effectively with business challenges.
“We welcome the presence of the World Bank Group in the Solomon Islands, “ said Acting Minister for Finance and Treasury Gordon Darcy Lilo. “IFC’s global expertise and experience will greatly support the regulatory reform effort of the Solomon Islands.”
Geoffrey Walton, IFC Senior Investment Policy Officer, said, “IFC’s assistance program to the Solomon Islands expands private sector opportunities that will translate into more jobs and better prospects for the people of the Solomon Islands in the future.”
In addition to streamlining business start-up in the Solomon Islands, the project will assess investment law, policy, and promotion to help increase the country’s attractiveness for foreign and local investment. Gender specific constraints that may exist in the business environment will be considered in the project.
IFC will implement the project with funding from the Foreign Investment Advisory Service and IFC Advisory Services through the Private Enterprise Partnership for the Pacific. FIAS is a multi-donor investment climate advisory service of the World Bank Group, and IFC PEP Pacific is a multi-donor facility in partnership with Australia, Japan, and New Zealand.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. We foster sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing private capital, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. Our new investments totaled $16.2 billion in fiscal 2008, a 34 percent increase over the previous year. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
